Published by hockeybuzz, 3-14-2018
With Arizona's 4-3 shootout win over the Los Angeles Kings last night, the Coyotes moved from the bottom of the league into 30th place. The team they just jumped?
The Buffalo Sabres.
Right now, with 13 games left in the regular season the Buffalo is in an all too familiar spot with the yes of Sabreland fixated upon the NHL Draft Lottery and the 2018 NHL Entry Draft in Dallas, TX. However, before they get there the front office and coaching staff seem intent upon getting a good look at their young players before heading into the off season.
With the Rochester Americans all but assured of making the playoffs for the first time in three years, there is time for some of their key players to get a good taste of the NHL before they begin their post season. Yesterday Buffalo called up goalie Linus Ullmark, who's looking like he'll be the team MVP once again, and this morning the Sabres called up forward Justin Bailey. The duo will join forward Nicolas Baptiste who's been up for a dozen games dating back to February 13 and defenseman Brendan Guhle who was called up March 4.
Defenseman Casey Nelson spent the first half of the season in Rochester and was recalled on January 17, playing in 25 games for the Sabres while forwards Kyle Criscuolo and Seth Griffith were recent recalls, with the latter two suffering injuries during their short stints.
That's a lot of youth and a lot of focus on the future of the Buffalo Sabres. As it should be. At yesterday's practice veterans Benotit Pouliot, Jacob Josefson and Jordan Nolan made up the Sabres fourth line while veteran d-men Josh Gorges and Justin Falk were the fourth pair.
Of all the moves, maybe Ullmark's was the most curious since it seems as if both Robin Lehner and backup Chad Johnson seem healthy, but it's also the most logical considering the Amerks are pretty much assured a playoff spot and Rochester backup Adam Wilcox has been more than dependable. Sabres head coach Phil Housley put it this way concerning Ullmark, "We felt it was a good time to call Linus up," he told the gathered media post-practice yesterday. "He's certainly deserved to be up here. We're going to continue to evaluate all our players, especially our goaltenders. … He's going to get an opportunity. When that is, I don't know."
Where, or even if, Bailey fits in to plans for tomorrows game vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs may have a lot to do with how Jack Eichel feels. Eichel has been sidelined since a high-ankle sprain felled him in a game against the Boston Bruins on February 10. Although those at the rink said he looked like never missed a beat during a very tough first practice, how he recovers today and tomorrow will determine whether or not he's a go.
All that said, here's where the Sabres are right now in the standings:
26th--Montreal (64 points)
27th--Detroit (63)
28th--Ottawa (61)
29th--Vancouver (59)
30th--Arizona (57)
31st--Buffalo (56)
With 13 games remaining in the season, the Sabres are in last place and if the season were to end now, they'd have a 18.5% chance of winning the lottery to select first-overall in the 2018 NHL Draft.
31st place--18.5%
30th--12.5
29th--10.5
28th--9.5
27th--8.5
26th--7.6
There is an NHL lottery simulator web site which has become very popular for Sabres fans the last few years, when you go there you can pick the winners for the first three spots in the draft.
For today this is what I came up with:
1. Calgary
2. NY Rangers
3. Buffalo
*****
4. Arizona
5. Vancouver
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Sabres back at practice. Ullmark up, Eichel on the ice. Plus, the lottery simulator.
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-13-2018
It's been a couple of days since the Buffalo Sabres lost 2-1 in the shootout vs. the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday. With Buffalo not playing again until Thursday Sabres coach Phil Housley gave the team both Sunday and Monday off.
The Sabres are back at it today with a couple players of interest at the practice today. Goalie Linus Ullmark was called up from the Rochester Americans this morning and according to reports from the rink is on the ice along with Buffalo's other two goalies--Robin Lehner and Chad Johnson. Back in February Lehner was having upper-body difficulties and the Sabres recalled Ullmark but never dressed him.
Rochester is off until Thursday when they begin playing back-to-back games and a three-game in four night stretch. With Ullmark up the Amerks recalled Jonas Johansson from the Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL.) The 6'4" 210 lb. Johansson was selected by the Sabres 61st overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft and has a 14-11-0 record, a 3.13 goals-against average and a .909 Sv% for Cincinnati this season.
Also on the ice practicing this morning is center Jack Eichel who's been out of the lineup since suffering a high-ankle sprain in Boston on February 10. The original time-frame for Eichel's return was around six weeks and presently it's been 4 1/2. The Sabres have said before that they won't rush their star player back into the lineup and they shouldn't. It's been a lost season for a while and there's no reason for them to want him back in action until both he and they feel the ankle is 100%
The Sabres went 6-6-2 since Eichel has been sidelined and that includes a perfect 5-0-0 vs. the top three teams in the Atlantic Division. Buffalo plays the Toronto Maple Leafs at home on Thursday.
There was a mention on twitter that Eichel could be ready for Thursday's game against the Leafs and these lines via WGR550's Paul Hamilton may indicate that he will play:
Wilson-O'Reilly-Reinhart
Girgensons-Eichel-Pominville
Rodrigues-Larson-Baptiste
Pouliot-Josefson-Nolan
The Sabres sent forwards Justin Bailey (who scored their only goal vs. Vegas) and Daniel O'Regan to Rochester on Sunday.
One final note on Eichel from Matthew Bove of WKBW via twitter:
"I have only been at Sabres practice for 20 minutes but I can say that Eichel is participating in every drill and looks like he never left. Maybe he’ll return to the lineup is sooner rather than later@WKBW"
*****
Here are the standings as of this morning:
26th--Detroit (63 points)
27th--Montreal (62)
28th--Ottawa (59)
29th--Vancouver (59)
30th--Buffalo (56)
31st--Arizona (55)
Arizona has one game in hand on Buffalo and they will make that up tonight as they welcome the LA Kings tonight.
With 13 games remaining in the season, the Sabres are in second to last place and if the season were to end now, they'd have a 12.5% chance of winning the lottery to select first-overall in the 2018 NHL Draft.
31st place--18.5%
30th--12.5
29th--10.5
28th--9.5
27th--8.5
26th--7.6
There is an NHL lottery simulator web site which has become very popular for Sabres fans the last few years, when you go there you can pick the winners for the first three spots in the draft.
For today this is what I came up with:
1. NY Islanders
2. Arizona
3. Buffalo
-----
4. Vancouver
5. Ottawa
It's been a couple of days since the Buffalo Sabres lost 2-1 in the shootout vs. the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday. With Buffalo not playing again until Thursday Sabres coach Phil Housley gave the team both Sunday and Monday off.
The Sabres are back at it today with a couple players of interest at the practice today. Goalie Linus Ullmark was called up from the Rochester Americans this morning and according to reports from the rink is on the ice along with Buffalo's other two goalies--Robin Lehner and Chad Johnson. Back in February Lehner was having upper-body difficulties and the Sabres recalled Ullmark but never dressed him.
Rochester is off until Thursday when they begin playing back-to-back games and a three-game in four night stretch. With Ullmark up the Amerks recalled Jonas Johansson from the Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL.) The 6'4" 210 lb. Johansson was selected by the Sabres 61st overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft and has a 14-11-0 record, a 3.13 goals-against average and a .909 Sv% for Cincinnati this season.
Also on the ice practicing this morning is center Jack Eichel who's been out of the lineup since suffering a high-ankle sprain in Boston on February 10. The original time-frame for Eichel's return was around six weeks and presently it's been 4 1/2. The Sabres have said before that they won't rush their star player back into the lineup and they shouldn't. It's been a lost season for a while and there's no reason for them to want him back in action until both he and they feel the ankle is 100%
The Sabres went 6-6-2 since Eichel has been sidelined and that includes a perfect 5-0-0 vs. the top three teams in the Atlantic Division. Buffalo plays the Toronto Maple Leafs at home on Thursday.
There was a mention on twitter that Eichel could be ready for Thursday's game against the Leafs and these lines via WGR550's Paul Hamilton may indicate that he will play:
Wilson-O'Reilly-Reinhart
Girgensons-Eichel-Pominville
Rodrigues-Larson-Baptiste
Pouliot-Josefson-Nolan
The Sabres sent forwards Justin Bailey (who scored their only goal vs. Vegas) and Daniel O'Regan to Rochester on Sunday.
One final note on Eichel from Matthew Bove of WKBW via twitter:
"I have only been at Sabres practice for 20 minutes but I can say that Eichel is participating in every drill and looks like he never left. Maybe he’ll return to the lineup is sooner rather than later
*****
Here are the standings as of this morning:
26th--Detroit (63 points)
27th--Montreal (62)
28th--Ottawa (59)
29th--Vancouver (59)
30th--Buffalo (56)
31st--Arizona (55)
Arizona has one game in hand on Buffalo and they will make that up tonight as they welcome the LA Kings tonight.
With 13 games remaining in the season, the Sabres are in second to last place and if the season were to end now, they'd have a 12.5% chance of winning the lottery to select first-overall in the 2018 NHL Draft.
31st place--18.5%
30th--12.5
29th--10.5
28th--9.5
27th--8.5
26th--7.6
There is an NHL lottery simulator web site which has become very popular for Sabres fans the last few years, when you go there you can pick the winners for the first three spots in the draft.
For today this is what I came up with:
1. NY Islanders
2. Arizona
3. Buffalo
-----
4. Vancouver
5. Ottawa
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Countdown: 13 games left, standings, plus NHL Lottery Simulator
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-11-2018
With their shootout loss yesterday to the Vegas Golden Knight, the Buffalo Sabres now sit at 56 points on the season with a 22-35-12 record and a 30th spot in the league standings:
26th--Detroit (63 points)
27th--Montreal (62)
28th--Vancouver (59)
29th--Ottawa (57)
30th--Buffalo (56)
31st--Arizona (53)
Having four teams (DET, MTL, OTT, BUF) in the bottom-six doesn't bode well for the Atlantic Division in general, but the Sabres have done surprisingly well going 10-7-4 against their divisional foes. And with yesterday's 2-1 overtime loss, they managed to break an ugly two-game pointless streak on their designated Kids Day matinee game. In the two games prior to yesterday, the Sabres lost 7-1 to the Dallas Stars back in January and 4-2 last month versus the LA Kings in a game where it was 4-0 and their putrid play drew GM Jason Botterill's ire in the pressbox.
Highlights yesterday include very little outside of some strong defensive play by Buffalo, a very exciting overtime and a hustle-goal by recalled forward Justin Bailey who used his speed to hit the zone hard and skill to deke Vegas goalie Marc Andre Fleury.
With their shootout loss yesterday to the Vegas Golden Knight, the Buffalo Sabres now sit at 56 points on the season with a 22-35-12 record and a 30th spot in the league standings:
26th--Detroit (63 points)
27th--Montreal (62)
28th--Vancouver (59)
29th--Ottawa (57)
30th--Buffalo (56)
31st--Arizona (53)
Having four teams (DET, MTL, OTT, BUF) in the bottom-six doesn't bode well for the Atlantic Division in general, but the Sabres have done surprisingly well going 10-7-4 against their divisional foes. And with yesterday's 2-1 overtime loss, they managed to break an ugly two-game pointless streak on their designated Kids Day matinee game. In the two games prior to yesterday, the Sabres lost 7-1 to the Dallas Stars back in January and 4-2 last month versus the LA Kings in a game where it was 4-0 and their putrid play drew GM Jason Botterill's ire in the pressbox.
Highlights yesterday include very little outside of some strong defensive play by Buffalo, a very exciting overtime and a hustle-goal by recalled forward Justin Bailey who used his speed to hit the zone hard and skill to deke Vegas goalie Marc Andre Fleury.
(vid courtesy NHL.com)
It was Bailey's third goal of the season for Buffalo and his fourth point in eight games.
Bailey and fellow forward Daniel O'Regan were both sent to Rochester this morning to revitalize a depleted Amerks lineup. With the call-up of Bailey and O'Regan, the Amerks went into a home-and-home yesterday with the Syracuse Crunch (TBL) who are currently second in the AHL's North Divison. Rochester lost to Syracuse yesterday and will play a 3 pm matinee today.
Sabres goalie Robin Lehner was in goal yesterday and was enjoying a rock solid game until he got itchy feet and ended up overplaying the puck carrier to his left. With Lehner flopping on the play the puck went behind the net and was pin-balled into the net off of defenseman Marco Scandella who was face down in the crease.
Overtime was a hoot and packed more action into five minutes than there was in the entire 60-minute regulation. Lehner, who did not stop a single shot all last season in the shootout found himself in his second consecutive 'skills competition' and did an admirable job, but Jacob Josefson's lone shootout goal wasn't enough as the Golden Knights won.
With 13 games remaining in the season, the Sabres are in second to last place and if the season were to end now, they'd have a 12.5% chance of winning the lottery to select first-overall in the 2018 NHL Draft.
31st place--18.5%
30th--12.5
29th--10.5
28th--9.5
27th--8.5
26th--7.6
There is an NHL lottery simulator web site which has become very popular for Sabres fans the last few years, when you go there you can pick the winners for the first three spots in the draft and for today this is what I came up with:
1. Ottawa
2.. Edmonton
3. Montreal
-----
4. Arizona
5. Buffalo
Cheers!
Sunday, March 11, 2018
Visit from Las Vegas Golden Knights kicks off 6-game homestand for Sabres
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-10-2018
I would have put the word 'expansion' in the headline before the Las Vegas Golden Knights, but even though they are in their first year of existence, they hardly look the part of an expansion team. In fact, one could easily say that the Buffalo Sabres have looked much more like an expansion team this season.
The Golden Knights were on a tear through the first 3/4 of they year and are enjoying the best season ever by an expansion club. As we sit here on the 10th day of March, Vegas is still perched atop the Pacific Division with a 43-19-5 record and their 91 points are tied for second in the Western Conference. Golden Knights GM George McPhee assembled a team of "undesirables" from the expansion draft and with veteran head coach Gerrard Gallant calling the tune, this team has been winning.
The run that Vegas went on until their recent slump is that of a championship-caliber team which includes no losing month, a remarkable 11-1-1 run in December and a 13-game streak where they never lost in regulation (12-0-1.) Much has been made about a team consisting of players left unprotected, and therefore seemingly unwanted, by their former teams and they're being coached by one who was sent packing by his former team, the Florida Panthers, and literally was at the curb with his bag hailing a taxi cab after learning of his firing.
A lot of adrenaline has been flowing through this Vegas team this season and they've also been healthy through much of the campaign save for their goaltenders early in the season. Vegas took a minor step back lately as they went 1-3-1 before pulling out a 4-0 win at Detroit on Thursday and part of the reason for that mini-slump might be traced back to the injuries that have started to mount.
This is the NHL stretch-run and the Golden Knights went into Detroit for the third game of a five-game road trip without forward James Neal and defenseman Nate Schmidt, both of whom are in Las Vegas recovering from injuries. Reilly Smith, the team's second leading scorer suffered an injury in Columbus on Tuesday and the Golden Knights are also without forwards Oscar Lindberg and former Sabre Will Carrier, defenseman Luca Sbisa and backup goalie Malcolm Subban.
However, Vegas will face a Sabres' team today that has it's own issues. On the health side, forward Kyle Okposo was lost to a concussion suffered in Thursday's 4-3 shootout win at Ottawa. Okposo, who had concussion problems last season, joins an injury list that includes Jack Eichel, the team's leading scorer (out since Feb. 11,) and fellow Sabres forward Evan Rodrigues along with defensemen Jake McCabe and Zach Bogosian.
However the Sabres woes this season reach far beyond injuries of which there were many (241 man-games lost.) While the expansion Golden Knights were tearing it up through the first half of the season, the Sabres were wallowing near the bottom of the league with a 10-20-8 record through the 2017 portion. Within that record for Buffalo was a 5-4 overtime loss at Las Vegas back in October.
The Sabres have turned it around a bit in the 2018 portion of the program going 12-15-3 since Jan. 1 and are presently 8-6-2 in their last 16 games while playing 14 of them (save for five minutes of the game he was injured) without Eichel.
With their leading scorer out the Sabres have been using scoring by committee mainly lead by Sam "The Forgotten One" Reinhart. The third-year pro got off to an incredibly poor start but has picked it up since the calendar year changed. In his last 30 games, Reinhart has 12 goals and 15 assists and is a plus-1.
Forward Ryan O'Reilly has 13 points (3+10) in his last 13 games while defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen has two goals and five assists in his last 10 games and has an even plus/minus rating. Fellow defenseman Marco Scandella has four goals in his last 10 games and is a plus-6. A quick reminder, the Sabres did not have a defenseman score a goal until McCabe did so on December 5, a full 28 games into the 2017-18 season.
All of that aside, in an interesting twist to the Sabres recent play, seven of their last eight wins are against Atlantic Division foes while five of their last six losses have come outside the division. Buffalo has been playing the Atlantic tough which includes a five-game win-streak against the division's top teams--Tampa, Boston and Toronto--but on the downside, they've been blown out in their last three losses by a combined 14-3 score. One of them was against Florida while the other two were against Calgary and Washington.
What might be even more disturbing is the Sabres' record during Kids Day, which happens to be the promotion their having for today's 1 pm matinee vs. Vegas. Buffalo has been downright abysmal in their last two on Kids Day's. The last one featured a 4-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings which wasn't as close as the score might indicate and the one prior was a 7-1 debacle against the Dallas Stars back in January.
All of this bodes well for Vegas entering into today's game, but this Sabres team has been known to pull off some surprises.
Word from the rink is the Robin Lehner gets the start in goal for Buffalo.
*****
The only other time that the Golden Knights and Buffalo met was on October 17 in Las Vegas when backup goalie Chad Johnson was in net. O'Reilly opened the scoring then Vegas scored three unanswered goals before Buffalo answered with three of their own, the last of which came with :09 seconds to play as Evander Kane tied it. David Perron scored 3:52 in overtime to give the Golden Knights the win.
As mentioned earlier, Vegas has a number of injuries and some of those on the injury report for today's game were in on all five goals the last time these two teams met:
Smith--1g, 1a
Lindberg--1g
Neal--2a
Sbisa--1a
I would have put the word 'expansion' in the headline before the Las Vegas Golden Knights, but even though they are in their first year of existence, they hardly look the part of an expansion team. In fact, one could easily say that the Buffalo Sabres have looked much more like an expansion team this season.
The Golden Knights were on a tear through the first 3/4 of they year and are enjoying the best season ever by an expansion club. As we sit here on the 10th day of March, Vegas is still perched atop the Pacific Division with a 43-19-5 record and their 91 points are tied for second in the Western Conference. Golden Knights GM George McPhee assembled a team of "undesirables" from the expansion draft and with veteran head coach Gerrard Gallant calling the tune, this team has been winning.
The run that Vegas went on until their recent slump is that of a championship-caliber team which includes no losing month, a remarkable 11-1-1 run in December and a 13-game streak where they never lost in regulation (12-0-1.) Much has been made about a team consisting of players left unprotected, and therefore seemingly unwanted, by their former teams and they're being coached by one who was sent packing by his former team, the Florida Panthers, and literally was at the curb with his bag hailing a taxi cab after learning of his firing.
A lot of adrenaline has been flowing through this Vegas team this season and they've also been healthy through much of the campaign save for their goaltenders early in the season. Vegas took a minor step back lately as they went 1-3-1 before pulling out a 4-0 win at Detroit on Thursday and part of the reason for that mini-slump might be traced back to the injuries that have started to mount.
This is the NHL stretch-run and the Golden Knights went into Detroit for the third game of a five-game road trip without forward James Neal and defenseman Nate Schmidt, both of whom are in Las Vegas recovering from injuries. Reilly Smith, the team's second leading scorer suffered an injury in Columbus on Tuesday and the Golden Knights are also without forwards Oscar Lindberg and former Sabre Will Carrier, defenseman Luca Sbisa and backup goalie Malcolm Subban.
However, Vegas will face a Sabres' team today that has it's own issues. On the health side, forward Kyle Okposo was lost to a concussion suffered in Thursday's 4-3 shootout win at Ottawa. Okposo, who had concussion problems last season, joins an injury list that includes Jack Eichel, the team's leading scorer (out since Feb. 11,) and fellow Sabres forward Evan Rodrigues along with defensemen Jake McCabe and Zach Bogosian.
However the Sabres woes this season reach far beyond injuries of which there were many (241 man-games lost.) While the expansion Golden Knights were tearing it up through the first half of the season, the Sabres were wallowing near the bottom of the league with a 10-20-8 record through the 2017 portion. Within that record for Buffalo was a 5-4 overtime loss at Las Vegas back in October.
The Sabres have turned it around a bit in the 2018 portion of the program going 12-15-3 since Jan. 1 and are presently 8-6-2 in their last 16 games while playing 14 of them (save for five minutes of the game he was injured) without Eichel.
With their leading scorer out the Sabres have been using scoring by committee mainly lead by Sam "The Forgotten One" Reinhart. The third-year pro got off to an incredibly poor start but has picked it up since the calendar year changed. In his last 30 games, Reinhart has 12 goals and 15 assists and is a plus-1.
Forward Ryan O'Reilly has 13 points (3+10) in his last 13 games while defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen has two goals and five assists in his last 10 games and has an even plus/minus rating. Fellow defenseman Marco Scandella has four goals in his last 10 games and is a plus-6. A quick reminder, the Sabres did not have a defenseman score a goal until McCabe did so on December 5, a full 28 games into the 2017-18 season.
All of that aside, in an interesting twist to the Sabres recent play, seven of their last eight wins are against Atlantic Division foes while five of their last six losses have come outside the division. Buffalo has been playing the Atlantic tough which includes a five-game win-streak against the division's top teams--Tampa, Boston and Toronto--but on the downside, they've been blown out in their last three losses by a combined 14-3 score. One of them was against Florida while the other two were against Calgary and Washington.
What might be even more disturbing is the Sabres' record during Kids Day, which happens to be the promotion their having for today's 1 pm matinee vs. Vegas. Buffalo has been downright abysmal in their last two on Kids Day's. The last one featured a 4-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings which wasn't as close as the score might indicate and the one prior was a 7-1 debacle against the Dallas Stars back in January.
All of this bodes well for Vegas entering into today's game, but this Sabres team has been known to pull off some surprises.
Word from the rink is the Robin Lehner gets the start in goal for Buffalo.
*****
The only other time that the Golden Knights and Buffalo met was on October 17 in Las Vegas when backup goalie Chad Johnson was in net. O'Reilly opened the scoring then Vegas scored three unanswered goals before Buffalo answered with three of their own, the last of which came with :09 seconds to play as Evander Kane tied it. David Perron scored 3:52 in overtime to give the Golden Knights the win.
As mentioned earlier, Vegas has a number of injuries and some of those on the injury report for today's game were in on all five goals the last time these two teams met:
Smith--1g, 1a
Lindberg--1g
Neal--2a
Sbisa--1a
Saturday, March 10, 2018
A division win in the shootout with Robin Lehner in net
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-9-2018
What's this hockey world coming to?
OK. So a divisional win from the Sabres isn't that far-fetched as they've dominated, yes dominated, the Atlantic Division dating back to early February. Since a February 1 loss at home against the Florida Panthers, a team they've struggled with all season, the Sabres are 7-1-1 (with their only regulation loss coming against the Panthers) within the division. That includes going 5-0-0 against the top three teams in the Atlantic--Tampa Bay, Boston and Tornoto--and outscoring those three by a combined 20-10 margin.
Buffalo bench boss Phil Housley talked about his team getting "geared up" for games and obviously when it comes to their divisional foes, his Sabres do that. With a depleted lineup, no less.
This was their starting forward group last night in Ottawa:
Benoit Pouliot-Ryan O'Reilly-Sam Reinhart
Scott Wilson-Johan Larsson-Jason Pominville
Zemgus Girgensons-Jacob Josefson-Kyle Okposo
Jordan Nolan-Daniel O'Regan-Nicolas Baptiste
It's basically the same lineup the Sabres have been using for the past month with the only changes being in the bottom six with some AHL players moving in and out because of injury. It's a lineup that has no business beating division leaders, much less doubling their goal-output in the process, as they have only three forwards in O'Reilly, Reinhart and Okposo who should even be considered top-six material.
However, as great as it's been against the Atlantic Division, Buffalo has only one win and one overtime loss against a non-divisional opponents. Their regulation losses during that time ranged from lackluster efforts to unmitigated disasters save for a couple of games in the first half of February. Buffalo's record outside the division after the Feb. 1 loss to Florida is 1-6-1 and they were outscored by a combined 30-17 in those games.
A microcosm of Buffalo's bi-polar nature when it comes to divisional/non-divisional games can be found in their most recent back-to-back which finished last night in Ottawa.
On Wednesday night the Sabres got trounced at home by the Calgary Flames in one of their worst losses of the season with the 5-1 score not even close to being indicative of how poorly the Sabres played. By the end of the second period the Flames lead 5-0 and only a smattering of Buffalo fans were left in the stands to watch the Sabres avoid the shutout on a goal by defenseman Casey Nelson with 17.1 seconds left.
It would mark the 14th time this season the Sabres have gotten blown out by three or more goals and in those games they totaled an astounding minus-55 goal differential (74-19.) The Sabres have a league-worst minus-58 goal differential for the entire season which means in the other 54 games they've played they're a minus-3.
Yet last night those same Sabres beat the Ottawa Senators on the road 4-3 in the shootout. Although it's understood that the Flames and Senators are far apart in the standings and also that the Sabres have a much better record on the road than they do at home, unlike the Calgary game, Buffalo was engaged in Ottawa. How else would this Sabres team score the game-tying goal in the third period and win it in the shootout, with the "skills competition" being a major source of angst and frustration dating back to last season.
The Sabres went 2-5 last season in the shootout and were 0-1 this year until last night. Starting goalie Robin Lehner was in net for five of those losses over the last two seasons and allowed nine goals on 10 shots against during that time with the only non-goal coming of a goal post rung in a shootout loss to Montreal in this season's opener. Snake-bitten doesn't begin to describe Lehner in the shootout and many fans last season were hoping that then head coach Dan Bylsma would make a "call to the bullpen" and bring in the backup to replace Lehner.
But last night was a bit different. Lehner, as usual, allowed a goal on the first shot but stopped the next two. And the Sabres skaters, who haven't exactly been snipers in the skills competition the last two seasons, scored as Reinhart and Josefson got Buffalo the win.
Buffalo has 14 games remaining in a lost season but if the pattern holds true, they should give their divisional foes a hard time while allowing the rest of the league to walk all over them. Up next is a game against the expansion Las Vegas Knights who look nothing like an expansion team. It will be their first visit to Buffalo and they'll be playing a matinee on Sabres' Kids Day. Which is something that doesn't bode well for the Sabres as it's been a horror show the last two Kids Days.
The meeting with Vegas kicks off a six-game homestand for Buffalo but they won't play again until March 15 when the Toronto Maple Leafs come to town. It will be only the second meeting between the two clubs this season with the first one coming earlier this week.
Because of last night's shootout win, the Sabres climbed out of the league basement with 55 points, two more than the last place Arizona Coyotes, who have two games in hand. With their loser point last night, Ottawa is two points ahead of Buffalo in the standings but they also have two games in hand.
Three more teams occupy the spots above Buffalo and Ottawa at this juncture--Vancouver-59 points; Montreal-61; Edmonton 62--and all of them have a game in hand on the Sabres.
What's this hockey world coming to?
OK. So a divisional win from the Sabres isn't that far-fetched as they've dominated, yes dominated, the Atlantic Division dating back to early February. Since a February 1 loss at home against the Florida Panthers, a team they've struggled with all season, the Sabres are 7-1-1 (with their only regulation loss coming against the Panthers) within the division. That includes going 5-0-0 against the top three teams in the Atlantic--Tampa Bay, Boston and Tornoto--and outscoring those three by a combined 20-10 margin.
Buffalo bench boss Phil Housley talked about his team getting "geared up" for games and obviously when it comes to their divisional foes, his Sabres do that. With a depleted lineup, no less.
This was their starting forward group last night in Ottawa:
Benoit Pouliot-Ryan O'Reilly-Sam Reinhart
Scott Wilson-Johan Larsson-Jason Pominville
Zemgus Girgensons-Jacob Josefson-Kyle Okposo
Jordan Nolan-Daniel O'Regan-Nicolas Baptiste
It's basically the same lineup the Sabres have been using for the past month with the only changes being in the bottom six with some AHL players moving in and out because of injury. It's a lineup that has no business beating division leaders, much less doubling their goal-output in the process, as they have only three forwards in O'Reilly, Reinhart and Okposo who should even be considered top-six material.
However, as great as it's been against the Atlantic Division, Buffalo has only one win and one overtime loss against a non-divisional opponents. Their regulation losses during that time ranged from lackluster efforts to unmitigated disasters save for a couple of games in the first half of February. Buffalo's record outside the division after the Feb. 1 loss to Florida is 1-6-1 and they were outscored by a combined 30-17 in those games.
A microcosm of Buffalo's bi-polar nature when it comes to divisional/non-divisional games can be found in their most recent back-to-back which finished last night in Ottawa.
On Wednesday night the Sabres got trounced at home by the Calgary Flames in one of their worst losses of the season with the 5-1 score not even close to being indicative of how poorly the Sabres played. By the end of the second period the Flames lead 5-0 and only a smattering of Buffalo fans were left in the stands to watch the Sabres avoid the shutout on a goal by defenseman Casey Nelson with 17.1 seconds left.
It would mark the 14th time this season the Sabres have gotten blown out by three or more goals and in those games they totaled an astounding minus-55 goal differential (74-19.) The Sabres have a league-worst minus-58 goal differential for the entire season which means in the other 54 games they've played they're a minus-3.
Yet last night those same Sabres beat the Ottawa Senators on the road 4-3 in the shootout. Although it's understood that the Flames and Senators are far apart in the standings and also that the Sabres have a much better record on the road than they do at home, unlike the Calgary game, Buffalo was engaged in Ottawa. How else would this Sabres team score the game-tying goal in the third period and win it in the shootout, with the "skills competition" being a major source of angst and frustration dating back to last season.
The Sabres went 2-5 last season in the shootout and were 0-1 this year until last night. Starting goalie Robin Lehner was in net for five of those losses over the last two seasons and allowed nine goals on 10 shots against during that time with the only non-goal coming of a goal post rung in a shootout loss to Montreal in this season's opener. Snake-bitten doesn't begin to describe Lehner in the shootout and many fans last season were hoping that then head coach Dan Bylsma would make a "call to the bullpen" and bring in the backup to replace Lehner.
But last night was a bit different. Lehner, as usual, allowed a goal on the first shot but stopped the next two. And the Sabres skaters, who haven't exactly been snipers in the skills competition the last two seasons, scored as Reinhart and Josefson got Buffalo the win.
Buffalo has 14 games remaining in a lost season but if the pattern holds true, they should give their divisional foes a hard time while allowing the rest of the league to walk all over them. Up next is a game against the expansion Las Vegas Knights who look nothing like an expansion team. It will be their first visit to Buffalo and they'll be playing a matinee on Sabres' Kids Day. Which is something that doesn't bode well for the Sabres as it's been a horror show the last two Kids Days.
The meeting with Vegas kicks off a six-game homestand for Buffalo but they won't play again until March 15 when the Toronto Maple Leafs come to town. It will be only the second meeting between the two clubs this season with the first one coming earlier this week.
Because of last night's shootout win, the Sabres climbed out of the league basement with 55 points, two more than the last place Arizona Coyotes, who have two games in hand. With their loser point last night, Ottawa is two points ahead of Buffalo in the standings but they also have two games in hand.
Three more teams occupy the spots above Buffalo and Ottawa at this juncture--Vancouver-59 points; Montreal-61; Edmonton 62--and all of them have a game in hand on the Sabres.
Friday, March 9, 2018
Can the Sabres get "geared up" for an out of conference game against the Flames?
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-7-2018
Buffalo Sabres head coach Phil Housley did his weekly radio thing this morning on WGR550. GR host Howard Simon brought up the point that the Sabres have been playing very well against their Atlantic Division foes as of late, which is true. Since a loss to the Florida Panthers on February 1, Buffalo has gone 6-1-1 which includes two wins each against the division-leading Tampa Bay Lightning and the second place Boston Bruins as well as a win on Monday against the division's third place team, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Housley was asked by the host if he's seen anything differently from his group when it comes to playing the top teams in the division. "I think the preparation by our guys has been really good," said the coach, "and they know that they have to come to play." Which is a curious response in that what the hell were they doing the other 60 or so games? Chllin' like Bob Dylan thinking that they don't "have to come and play?"
"We want to have that same preparation every game," continued the coach, "but it just seems as of late in these last 15 games, we've seen a lot of Boston and Tampa and now Toronto and they're getting geared up. It's a divisional opponents, they have rivalries that in the past have been physical, intense games.
"I just think they're on their mark and ready to play [in those divisional games] and it's a great challenge for us, and if you're not ready to play, you're going to get embarrassed."
Like the 14 times this season they've lost games by three or more goals.
Tonight the Calgary Flames come to town. They're in the Western Conference so is the motivation there for this group to "gear up?"
The Flames are having a pretty good season and right now they're five points out of a wild card spot with three teams to jump. Present Sabres backup goalie Chad Johnson, who will get the start tonight, played for Calgary last season and posted good numbers in his 36 appearances for the Flames. Perhaps the team will come to play for him.
Buffalo defeated the Flames in Calgary back in January 2-1. The overtime win came with Johnson in net and kicked off a very successful three-game western Canada sweep where they defeated the Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks by a combined 11-1 score. Sabres starter Robin Lehner posted back-to-back shutouts in the other two games.
Overall the Sabres are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games against Calgary, according to Sabres PR, and a very sound 9-0-1 at home.
Perhaps they can get "geared up" in an effort to keep that going.
Individually there are some Sabres players who'd like to keep things rolling. Sam Reinhart has 23 points (9+14) in his last 22 games. Linemate Ryan O'Reilly has 12 points (3+9) in his last 11 games and has a four-game point streak going. Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen seems to have found his game with six points (1+5) in his last six games and 24 points over his last 29.
As for Johnson, at one point in the season he couldn't stop a beach ball but lately he is 6-2-0 in his last nine appearances with a .933 save percentage and a 2.05 goals-against average in those contests. (All numbers courtesy Sabres PR.)
Johnson is also on a three-game winning streak with all of those wins coming against the top three teams in the Atlantic (Tampa, Boston, Toronto) and has won five of his last six starts. In those five wins he's allowed 10 goals on 154 shots for a .935 save % while the team in front of him scored 20 goals.
Here's the lineup as seen by those at the morning skate:
Girgensons-O'Reilly-Reinhart
Wilson-Larsson-Pominville
Nolan-Josefson-Okposo
Baptiste-Pouliot-Griffith
Scandella-Ristolainen
Guhle-Nelson
Beaulieu-Antipin
*****
Housley was also asked about defenseman Victor Antipin and what he's seen of him so far this season. The coach mentioned that the Russian rookie has been adjusting to the North American game, most notably "players being on top of you right away and not having that extra time with the puck."
You see that with a lot of players, most of whom have been groomed in North America, in that they just can't seem to figure out that there's very little time to make a decision in the NHL. How they handle that and what kind of fast puck decisions they make are a good indication as to what kind of success they'll have at the NHL-level.
Antipin is looking more and more comforatable with every game played. Although there was the #FreeAntipin movement early in the season, his play had a number of holes in it which warranted some time watching from the pressbox. If he continues to progress, Sabres fans will hopefully get to see some of what he did in Russia which was find that soft spot in the offensive zone for a scoring opportunity.
*****
Antipin's partner is Nathan Beaulieu a defenseman who has driven many nuts over the course of his first season in Buffalo.
If one were to go back and review every one of his games this season, in nearly every game a Beaulieu turnover will either lead to a golden opportunity or goal against. Yet, his skating is fluid and top-notch, which is something that will continue hooking people for years to come.
The Sabres aren't good enough to overcome Beaulieu's brain-fart(s)/game right now and no team should ever be subjected to that. But if they could ever become a team that has the goaltending and/or goal-scoring to overcome his mistakes, when he's on his game Beauliue's kinda fun to watch. Got an little edge to his game too.
Buffalo Sabres head coach Phil Housley did his weekly radio thing this morning on WGR550. GR host Howard Simon brought up the point that the Sabres have been playing very well against their Atlantic Division foes as of late, which is true. Since a loss to the Florida Panthers on February 1, Buffalo has gone 6-1-1 which includes two wins each against the division-leading Tampa Bay Lightning and the second place Boston Bruins as well as a win on Monday against the division's third place team, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Housley was asked by the host if he's seen anything differently from his group when it comes to playing the top teams in the division. "I think the preparation by our guys has been really good," said the coach, "and they know that they have to come to play." Which is a curious response in that what the hell were they doing the other 60 or so games? Chllin' like Bob Dylan thinking that they don't "have to come and play?"
"We want to have that same preparation every game," continued the coach, "but it just seems as of late in these last 15 games, we've seen a lot of Boston and Tampa and now Toronto and they're getting geared up. It's a divisional opponents, they have rivalries that in the past have been physical, intense games.
"I just think they're on their mark and ready to play [in those divisional games] and it's a great challenge for us, and if you're not ready to play, you're going to get embarrassed."
Like the 14 times this season they've lost games by three or more goals.
Tonight the Calgary Flames come to town. They're in the Western Conference so is the motivation there for this group to "gear up?"
The Flames are having a pretty good season and right now they're five points out of a wild card spot with three teams to jump. Present Sabres backup goalie Chad Johnson, who will get the start tonight, played for Calgary last season and posted good numbers in his 36 appearances for the Flames. Perhaps the team will come to play for him.
Buffalo defeated the Flames in Calgary back in January 2-1. The overtime win came with Johnson in net and kicked off a very successful three-game western Canada sweep where they defeated the Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks by a combined 11-1 score. Sabres starter Robin Lehner posted back-to-back shutouts in the other two games.
Overall the Sabres are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games against Calgary, according to Sabres PR, and a very sound 9-0-1 at home.
Perhaps they can get "geared up" in an effort to keep that going.
Individually there are some Sabres players who'd like to keep things rolling. Sam Reinhart has 23 points (9+14) in his last 22 games. Linemate Ryan O'Reilly has 12 points (3+9) in his last 11 games and has a four-game point streak going. Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen seems to have found his game with six points (1+5) in his last six games and 24 points over his last 29.
As for Johnson, at one point in the season he couldn't stop a beach ball but lately he is 6-2-0 in his last nine appearances with a .933 save percentage and a 2.05 goals-against average in those contests. (All numbers courtesy Sabres PR.)
Johnson is also on a three-game winning streak with all of those wins coming against the top three teams in the Atlantic (Tampa, Boston, Toronto) and has won five of his last six starts. In those five wins he's allowed 10 goals on 154 shots for a .935 save % while the team in front of him scored 20 goals.
Here's the lineup as seen by those at the morning skate:
Girgensons-O'Reilly-Reinhart
Wilson-Larsson-Pominville
Nolan-Josefson-Okposo
Baptiste-Pouliot-Griffith
Scandella-Ristolainen
Guhle-Nelson
Beaulieu-Antipin
*****
Housley was also asked about defenseman Victor Antipin and what he's seen of him so far this season. The coach mentioned that the Russian rookie has been adjusting to the North American game, most notably "players being on top of you right away and not having that extra time with the puck."
You see that with a lot of players, most of whom have been groomed in North America, in that they just can't seem to figure out that there's very little time to make a decision in the NHL. How they handle that and what kind of fast puck decisions they make are a good indication as to what kind of success they'll have at the NHL-level.
Antipin is looking more and more comforatable with every game played. Although there was the #FreeAntipin movement early in the season, his play had a number of holes in it which warranted some time watching from the pressbox. If he continues to progress, Sabres fans will hopefully get to see some of what he did in Russia which was find that soft spot in the offensive zone for a scoring opportunity.
*****
Antipin's partner is Nathan Beaulieu a defenseman who has driven many nuts over the course of his first season in Buffalo.
If one were to go back and review every one of his games this season, in nearly every game a Beaulieu turnover will either lead to a golden opportunity or goal against. Yet, his skating is fluid and top-notch, which is something that will continue hooking people for years to come.
The Sabres aren't good enough to overcome Beaulieu's brain-fart(s)/game right now and no team should ever be subjected to that. But if they could ever become a team that has the goaltending and/or goal-scoring to overcome his mistakes, when he's on his game Beauliue's kinda fun to watch. Got an little edge to his game too.
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
It's little stanley cup time for the Sabres against the Toronto Maple Leafs
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-5-2018
Sure, playing in "little stanley cup" games in a lost season is a bit of a knock on this edition of the Buffalo Sabres, but then again there's not much really to get pumped up about when the team you're following is second-to-last in the league with a 20-34-11 record. And for the Sabres players, or what's left of them, when you've been bearing the burden of a disastrous season for well over two and a half months, it's hard to get up for any of the final 18 games of the season.
But, Toronto is coming to town and if players and fans were to find any life, perhaps a game against the Maple Leafs will be enough to get the blood pumping.
For those who say the Sabres have no rivalry with any team because their record over the past five seasons or so doesn't warrant it, that may be true to an extent. But this is the Maple Leafs and even though the distance between the two franchises is much farther away than the 100 or so miles up the QEW that separates the two cities, there's a rivalry embedded within that cares little for records.
The Leafs, of course, represent the self-described "Center of the Hockey Universe" with the modern version of "Hockey's Holy Trinity" perched high on their thrones atop Mount Maple Leaf. As for the Sabres, their the mutt that generally gets kicked around when something needs kicking.
And so be it.
Leafs team president Brendan Shanahan has done a remarkable job guiding the club out of the wasteland, GM Lou Lamoriello has done some nice work in following Shanahan's plan and coach Mike Babcock is...well...Mike Babcock. And thanks to him the Sabres and their ownership have some bulletin board material to look at.
We also get the tweet from Mr. Harrington of The Buffalo News carrying that quote. Harrington has and continues to be adamantly opposed to anything and everything concerning Buffalo's tank job and won't miss an opportunity to let people know what he or other people think about it.
Fact is, the lottery did work out for the Maple Leafs and when you put Auston Matthews atop a good collection of forward talent with a future Hall of Fame coach behind the bench, good things happen. And when things don't work out exactly as planned and your GM miscalculates badly...well...you get the present Buffalo Sabres.
Yet, it's not the players fault in all of this. It's not Sam Reinhart's fault, nor is it Jack Eichel's, Ryan O'Reilly's, Robin Lehner's, Kyle Okposo's or any one else. This is the team that former GM Tim Murray and present GM Jason Botterill put together and the one that's coached by Botterill's pick, Phil Housley.
Next year the Sabres will start again with an influx of new players and another year of trying to get it right.
But that's next year and the team still has 17 games to play with four of them against their QEW rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs. This will, oddly enough, be the first meeting of the season between the two clubs so there should be plenty of energy. The Leafs are locked into a playoff spot and always have a large contingent of fans follow them south to Buffalo making for a very raucous evening at KeyBank Center.
When the two teams meet tonight, ironically, the focal points of Babcock's barb concerning the draft--Eichel and Matthews--will not play as both are out with injuries. That leaves all the other draft picks and moves the teams have made over the past few years left to battle it out.
Buffalo players should take pride in this game even without Babcock's slight against the organization and, ultimately, the players who seemed to be looked upon as grubby little street urchins in the eyes of Leaf Nation. It's a chance to beat back the ostentatious invasion of the Leafs and their fans.
In a lost season with 17 games to go there really isn't much to play for accept these "little stanley cup" battles between the patricians of Mount Maple Leaf and the plebeians of Buffalo, this time with the words of Babcock to an adoring local media of how the Sabres and their organization suck.
Have at it boys.
Sure, playing in "little stanley cup" games in a lost season is a bit of a knock on this edition of the Buffalo Sabres, but then again there's not much really to get pumped up about when the team you're following is second-to-last in the league with a 20-34-11 record. And for the Sabres players, or what's left of them, when you've been bearing the burden of a disastrous season for well over two and a half months, it's hard to get up for any of the final 18 games of the season.
But, Toronto is coming to town and if players and fans were to find any life, perhaps a game against the Maple Leafs will be enough to get the blood pumping.
For those who say the Sabres have no rivalry with any team because their record over the past five seasons or so doesn't warrant it, that may be true to an extent. But this is the Maple Leafs and even though the distance between the two franchises is much farther away than the 100 or so miles up the QEW that separates the two cities, there's a rivalry embedded within that cares little for records.
The Leafs, of course, represent the self-described "Center of the Hockey Universe" with the modern version of "Hockey's Holy Trinity" perched high on their thrones atop Mount Maple Leaf. As for the Sabres, their the mutt that generally gets kicked around when something needs kicking.
And so be it.
Leafs team president Brendan Shanahan has done a remarkable job guiding the club out of the wasteland, GM Lou Lamoriello has done some nice work in following Shanahan's plan and coach Mike Babcock is...well...Mike Babcock. And thanks to him the Sabres and their ownership have some bulletin board material to look at.
Sure, Mike, those in Sabreland get it and we also get that you shunned Buffalo for Toronto which was expected. After all you did call the Leafs, "Canada's team" at your presser. Word has it that you were enamored with Toronto when you chose them and also weren't very pleased with the way the Sabres were doing things. Then again, the Sabres had just lost the draft lottery and the rights to Connor McDavid, but I wonder if you'd have dismissed your wife's preference for Toronto over Buffalo had the pingpong balls went in the Sabres' favor that year?Babcock was asked by a Toronto writer about the difference in the two teams' rebuilds. Gut-punch answer to #Sabreshttps://twitter.com/hashtag/Sabres?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Sabres> fans. pic.twitter.com/vVjA5XKU5O&mdash">https://t.co/vVjA5XKU5O">pic.twitter.com/vVjA5XKU5O— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) March">https://twitter.com/ByMHarrington/status/970391934417227777?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2018
We also get the tweet from Mr. Harrington of The Buffalo News carrying that quote. Harrington has and continues to be adamantly opposed to anything and everything concerning Buffalo's tank job and won't miss an opportunity to let people know what he or other people think about it.
Fact is, the lottery did work out for the Maple Leafs and when you put Auston Matthews atop a good collection of forward talent with a future Hall of Fame coach behind the bench, good things happen. And when things don't work out exactly as planned and your GM miscalculates badly...well...you get the present Buffalo Sabres.
Yet, it's not the players fault in all of this. It's not Sam Reinhart's fault, nor is it Jack Eichel's, Ryan O'Reilly's, Robin Lehner's, Kyle Okposo's or any one else. This is the team that former GM Tim Murray and present GM Jason Botterill put together and the one that's coached by Botterill's pick, Phil Housley.
Next year the Sabres will start again with an influx of new players and another year of trying to get it right.
But that's next year and the team still has 17 games to play with four of them against their QEW rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs. This will, oddly enough, be the first meeting of the season between the two clubs so there should be plenty of energy. The Leafs are locked into a playoff spot and always have a large contingent of fans follow them south to Buffalo making for a very raucous evening at KeyBank Center.
When the two teams meet tonight, ironically, the focal points of Babcock's barb concerning the draft--Eichel and Matthews--will not play as both are out with injuries. That leaves all the other draft picks and moves the teams have made over the past few years left to battle it out.
Buffalo players should take pride in this game even without Babcock's slight against the organization and, ultimately, the players who seemed to be looked upon as grubby little street urchins in the eyes of Leaf Nation. It's a chance to beat back the ostentatious invasion of the Leafs and their fans.
In a lost season with 17 games to go there really isn't much to play for accept these "little stanley cup" battles between the patricians of Mount Maple Leaf and the plebeians of Buffalo, this time with the words of Babcock to an adoring local media of how the Sabres and their organization suck.
Have at it boys.
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